Spade Pirate Uzumaki
by Arnold Fiend
Summary: Join Naruto as he embarks on a journey of a lifetime as a member of the Spade Pirates! No Yaoi. Parings up for debate.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Piece. They belong to their respective creators whose names I can't spell.**

Portgas D. Ace was sitting in a quaint little inn as he waited for his ship to finished being repaired. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. He also wore a short second belt with a large red "A" on the silver buckle over his right hip, but left it unfastened and threaded the free end along the back of his shorts. A dagger in a green sheath hung at his left hip. On Ace's left arm, he wore a Log Pose and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, an orange elbow guard, and his "ASCE" tattoo. He wore a red beaded necklace and an orange hat with two blue smileys, one frowning and one smiling, and a string of red beads sitting above the rim. Two long orange side straps hung down sides of his hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels.

It had been two weeks since he set sail from Mt. Colubo and already his raft was in need of repair. He chuckled to himself as he thought about how much he needed a shipwright and a helmsman.

His chuckling earned him a glare from a blonde man sleeping in a hammock inside the lobby of the inn. Taking time to study the man Ace noticed he looked to be around his age. He had on an orange vest that left his chest exposed and allowed the rare looking green gem around his neck to shimmer. He was wearing a pair of black pants and black sandals that covered his feet save for his toes. On his head was a black hat similar to Ace's except it had a pair of goggles strapped across the front that drudged up some bitter memories for Ace. On the ground next to the lazy man's hammock was a large scroll. His eyes were a deep blue and at the moment were fixed into a glare at the black haired pirate.

Ace had seen the blonde everyday since he arrived on the small island but he was always asleep in the hammock and never seemed to move from his perch. His thoughts were put on hold as he saw the young woman that owned the inn come in. She was pretty in Ace's opinion and she wore a bright, welcoming smile on her face that switched into a scowl when she saw the blonde.

"Today's the day I finally get you away from my shop you bastard!" She said pointing an accusing finger at the blonde.

"Yeah, yeah. Just bring me something to eat, will ya? I'm starving here." Judging from the blonde's nonchalant response Ace could tell that this was reoccurring debate. The woman's eye twitched as she walked away mumbling to herself.

"Damn freeloader. Get a job!" Deciding to make his presence known Ace called out to the woman.

"Thanks for letting me stay here while my ship's being worked on." The owner's personality did a compete 180 switch as she smiled brightly at the pirate.

"No problem. I'm always happy to accommodate a paying customer." As she said this she shot another dirty look at the blonde who had fell back asleep.

"Hey what's the deal with that blonde guy? I've seen him in that hammock everyday since I've been here." Ace's question caused the young woman to sigh dramatically.

"Honestly I don't know. He showed up about two months ago and no matter what I do he won't leave. I suppose he is a good luck charm though."

"Why do you say that?" The pirate asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For the last few years this town has been plagued by bandits. They come from the village across the way and to raid our town because there is a large Marine presence in their own. But in the months since he's been here the raids have stopped."

The two spared a look at the sleeping blonde only to find that he was snoring with a large snot bubble rising and falling. Sweatdropping, Ace turned his attention back to the woman.

"Why aren't the Marines doing anything about the bandits in your town?"

"We don't have enough money to pay them for their services." She replied while shaking her head sadly.

Ace's face turned grim. It seemed these Marines were little more than mercenaries for hire. It was nothing new to the young pirate since he had seen some of the more seedy officers during his short time of traveling. It seemed the people in the town were in a hopeless situation. Shaking his head, Ace decided he had done enough talking for the moment.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Which room am I staying in?" The woman seemed to snap out of her daze and blushed heavily in embarrassment.

"Oh! My apologies, you're in Room 22 for the night. Enjoy your stay."

"Will do." Ace replied while tilting his hat and taking the room key. He spared one last look at the sleeping blonde before heading to his quarters.

_(Later That Night)_

Lying in his bed Ace thought about the plight of the townsfolk. It wasn't in his personality to just let the bandit raids continue and he decided that he would do something to help these people. Standing up from his bed he was getting ready to leave his room when he saw the signs of someone moving outside below his window. He caught a glimpse of the person when the moonlight hit them and was surprised to see it was that same lazy blonde from the lobby.

"Where are you off to?"

Ace didn't expect an answer since there was no way the blonde could hear him. Instead he opened the window and jumped out to follow the blonde. He was careful to stay far enough away that his presence wasn't picked up. He trailed the man to a small clearing in a nearby forest and saw that he was standing in front of what seemed to be a group of bandits. Was this man in cahoots with the thieves? Ace got his answer as he listened to their conversation.

"We've had enough off your meddling you brat. We're gonna rob this place for all it's worth." One of the bandits said trying to sound intimidating. If the blonde's response was any indication, his attempt failed.

"You guys sure talk a lot." He said while picking his nose. This seemed to set the bandits off as they all reached for their weapons.

"Get him!"

Ace watched impressed as the blonde moved with ease through the various sharp blades and dispatched the bandits in no time at all. He was fast, that much was obvious to the pirate and if the unconscious group of pirates was anything to go by he was also strong.

"You can come out now."

At first Ace didn't move as he thought that there was another bandit lying in wait but when the blonde shot bland stare at the bushes where he was hiding Ace figured he was talking to him. Stepping out from his hiding spot Ace rubbed his head and smiled as he spoke.

"Those were some good moves."

"Why were you following me?" The blonde deadpanned and Ace shrugged his shoulders with indifference.

"I was just curious I guess. So you're the one who's been keeping the bandits away from the town?"

"What of it?" At the blonde's raised eyebrow Ace responded still shrugging.

"Just seems kinda stupid to me." That made the blonde close the distance between them in a hurry.

"What'd you say you bastard?" Nonplussed by the blonde's confrontational tone, Ace elaborated.

"I mean why don't you just bring down the whole operation? That way you don't have to worry about them coming back all the time."

"…" The blonde allowed himself to fall into a contemplative stance as he considered Ace's words.

"Actually that's not a bad idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner, thanks." Ace shrugged not really thinking too much about it since that was what he planned to do in the first place.

"No problem. You need some help?" The blonde scoffed at the suggestion.

"Yeah right like you could keep up with me."

"How about a little wager?" Ace's grin soon spread to the blonde.

"I'm listening."

"If you win I'll buy you whatever you want from the tavern, no matter how much it costs."

"Deal!" The blonde said without giving it any further thought. Ace sweatdropped at the quick response.

"But you didn't hear what happens if I win." The blonde just waved him off and responded confidently.

"Doesn't matter. You won't win."

The two fighters stood among a flurried mess of debris and bodies. Some dead, some unconscious. The building that had once housed over one hundred bandits now looked as if a tornado had struck it. There were man sized holes throughout the building that were created when one of the two had thrown a bandit through the dry wall. The roof was cave in and shingles dangled dangerously from it. Even after all the damage dealt on the bandits, Naruto and Ace stood unscathed in the middle of the prone bodies of the defeated marauders.

"51." Ace said with a smirk directed at the blonde. Naruto responded with a smirk just as large.

"51." Ace blinked at that. What were the odds that there were exactly one hundred and two bandits in this warehouse?

"A tie, so what do we do?" Naruto didn't get a chance to answer the question due to a bandit emerging from the tattered remains of the hideout.

"You die!" The poor bandit didn't even take two steps towards them before a piece of the battered roof fell off and crashed into his head, killing him instantly. The two fighters blinked before looking at each other and shrugging.

"52. I win." Ace said with a smirk and Naruto voiced his displeasure.

"That doesn't count he was knocked out by a fucking piece of wood!"

"Well I destroyed the building so it counts as mine." Ace shrugged and Naruto could feel his eyebrow twitch before he accepted his loss like a man.

"Whatever, so what do ya want?" Ace tilted his hat with a grin on his face. Leaning in close to the blonde, Naruto felt a tad bit uncomfortable.

"I want you-"

"Let me stop you right there, guy. I don't care if you swing that way but I am one hundred percent for the ladies. I mean it is flattering but-"Ace sputtered at the insinuation.

"What the hell are you talking about? I was gonna say I want you to join my crew!"

"Your crew?"

Naruto blinked a few times when it donned on him that the black haired man didn't want him to perform and deviant acts on him. Ace's eyebrow twitched as he wondered what was going through the crazy blonde's head.

"Yeah. I'm starting a pirate crew and I want you to join me."

"A pirate crew huh? What would I be doing on this 'crew'?"

Naruto was definitely interested, if only for the fact that he had nothing better to do. Besides Ace was his first real acquaintance since arriving in this world. Banishing the dark thoughts that began to surface, Naruto listened to the pirate.

"Whatever you want to do. Being a pirate is about having as much freedom as you can, my dream is to have the most freedom of any pirate."

After the explanation Naruto could definitely say that he was interested. Having as much freedom as possible was exactly what Naruto was looking for. It was the complete opposite of his life in Konoha.

"Sure." The grin the blonde had threatened to split his face in half. "I'll join."

"Yosh!" Ace exclaimed pumping his fist in the air. He had gotten the first member of his crew.

"So does this pirate crew have a name?" The stilled unnamed blonde asked. Ace nodded with a smile on his face.

"We're gonna be called the Spade Pirates." The blonde seemed to take the name into consideration for a moment before nodding to himself.

"Spade Pirates huh? I can deal with that. You got a name or should I just call you captain?"

"The name's Portgas D. Ace. What about you?" Ace said extending his hand towards his new comrade. The blonde reached out and shook the extended limb with a grin.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

**A/N: Yo. This is my first time writing a story for this site and I'm really trying to get the hang of it. I was given this account by my friend (because I didn't want to wait to upload) and I changed the name. I had this idea and after reading so many awesome Naruto/One Piece fics, I decided to try it out. In this story Naruto will be a member of the Spade Pirates under Ace. In fact, he'll be the only member. But all of that will be elaborated on later. For those who are wondering about his skill set, he is currently as powerful as he is during the Fourth Shinobi War. He has no abilities outside of those except he has Asuma's Chakra blades because I think its badass. Let me know if it's any good or if you spot any grammar errors because like I said, this is my first time writing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**(One Year Later)**

One year after Naruto had joined Ace's crew, the blonde found himself floating across a dangerous area of the Grand Line. Not much had changed in his appearance. The only major difference was the tattoo of a spade under his right eye. He was riding on a ship that they had acquired roughly two months ago.

The Spade Pirates' Jolly Roger was that of a normal grinning skull and crossbones wearing Ace's signature orange hat, which had two "smileys", one smiling and the other frowning. The top of the hat had flames protruding from it, a representation of Ace's new fire-based abilities. The background of the skull is a spade and the word "SPADE" is beneath it. The figurehead of the ship was similar to the Jolly Roger's; a skull with a flaming head. There are also chains linked to the skull and the sides of the ship. The foremost sail bears the crew's Jolly Roger, which had a skull with Portgas D. Ace's signature hat and flames protruding from it, along with the spades on the background. The crew's flag is on top of that sail. The back sail on the top contains the word "SPADE", and has the crew's flag on top of it.

Naruto studied the papers in his hand with a small smile. It had only been a year since he joined Ace's "crew", if you could call it that. Ace had long since decided against any new recruits to his crew. When Naruto asked why the black haired captain responded by saying "they would only slow us down". Naruto had to agree on that point. The two had developed a rather unique form of teamwork that, without sounding too cocky, kicked major ass. The two had become well known, a fact that was confirmed by the wanted posters that Naruto currently held.

"Looks like you got another increase in your bounty. Must be from that Devil Fruit you ate." Naruto jibbed handing the new bounty poster over to Ace.

Ace looked over the papers with a smirk. 550,000,000 Beli wasn't too bad for a rookie. Looking at Naruto's 400,000,000 Beli bounty the pirate captain managed a small scoff. It seemed that when a person had eaten a Devil's fruit their bounty jumped significantly. Up until Ace had eaten the Mera Mera Fruit their bounties had been even. Naruto didn't have a Devil's Fruit but that didn't mean he was weaker than him. Ace attributed this to the paranoia of the World Government; fruit user pirates were dangerous after all.

"Well we can't all use super cool techniques without one. Seriously I'm gonna make you tell me how you do that one day."

Ever since Naruto had showed his captain his jutsu, Ace had been trying to get the blonde to tell him how he did them. Naruto felt a bit bad for withholding his past from someone he now considered to be his brother but he figured it was for the best. He doubted Ace would believe him anyway. Deciding to change the conversation, Naruto questioned Ace on their current destination.

"So why are we going to see this Shanks guy anyway? Not that I'm complaining, I've been wanting to see how I match up to a Yonko."

Ace chuckled at Naruto's wolfish grin. The blonde's thrill for battle was well known throughout the seas and it only added to their reputation as The Chaotic Duo.

"We're not going to fight him. I just always remember Luffy bragging about the guy and I want to see how he really is." Naruto rolled his eyes at Ace's explanation.

"Not to mention he might have info on Whitebeard." The smirk on Ace's face proved that Naruto was right.

The blonde didn't understand completely why his friend wanted to kill the Yonko but in the end it didn't matter. Naruto was having the time of his life sailing around with Ace and if a couple of people had to die to keep it going, then Naruto wouldn't complain. While he didn't kill for sport, he had long since lost his naïve notion that every enemy could be defeated by knocking them out. That line of thinking went out the window during the Fourth Shinobi War. Sometimes you had to put them down for good.

The two sailed on in a comfortable silence that spoke volumes for how Naruto had changed over the years. In the distance the blonde spotted a large ship that was at least five times bigger than their own. It was stationed next to a small island that only had one notable feature; a cave. Looking over at Ace he saw that the Mera Mera user was grinning.

"There's his ship."

Naruto lowered the ship's anchor once they reached the island and followed Ace as he jumped off the ship and onto the land. The walked in slow steady steps towards the cave's entrance and were greeted to the sight of several intimidating looking men scattered about the cave. In the middle of the cave sitting at a round wooden table was a man that was easily recognizable among pirates. The Yonko, Red Haired Shanks. The man looked up at them as they entered, his smirk was one of a predator.

"Fire Fist Ace and Hurricane Naruto, you two came all this way to greet me?" This was said as Shanks' one hand rested on his sword. The obvious threat didn't seem to faze the two younger pirates though and Ace made his intentions clear with a casual tone.

"I'm Luffy's brother. He was always talking about you and told me to thank you if I ever meet you." Instantly the tension in the cave vanished and was replaced by a jovial mood. With a shit eating grin on his face, Shanks seemed to be in high spirits.

"Luffy's brother, huh? I think that's cause to celebrate." Turning to his crewmates, who had already began to break out the rum, Shanks spoke "Hey guys, this is Anchor's brother!"

Looking at the two young men across from him, Shanks had to admit that pirates were getting younger and younger everyday. Here were two kids who couldn't be older than eighteen and yet they had a combined bounty of over 900,000,000 Beli. Lucky Roo set down a keg and three tall glasses and Shanks poured them each some rum.

"You two have made quite the name for yourselves. I even heard rumors that you were offered invitations to be among the Shichibukai. That's a big deal for being so young." Ace waived off that comment as he sipped his rum.

"We turned it down. What's the point of being a pirate if you have to take orders from someone, right Naruto?" The blonde in question gave off a large belch that resounded of the cave's walls.

"Right."

"Here, here." Shanks said chuckling at the answer. They sure were any interesting duo.

"There's also been talk that you're after the old man's head. Now why would you try something as foolish as that?"

Shanks' question made Naruto slam his hands on the table. The sound of guns cocking didn't deter the blonde as he stared unflinchingly into Shanks' eyes. The sudden outburst made Ace smirk and the Yonko raise his eyebrow.

"Because we can. The joy of being a pirate means not having to explain your decisions. When we want to do something we do it, consequences be damned!"

The cave fell silent as Shanks' crew still had their weapons aimed at the newcomers. Shanks ignored everything around him as he studied the two young men sitting across from him. Picking up his glass of rum the Yonko took a slow sip before replying with his eyes still locked on them.

"You two really do live up two your reputations. Here you are sitting across from a group of men that could end your life in an instant and you're having a good time." The tension was back tenfold and Shanks let it drag on for a moment. When it became obvious that it wasn't affecting the two, his face fell into a playful grin.

"I like that! So you want to know where Whitebeard is huh?"

* * *

"This is the island Shanks said Whitebeard comes to when he makes port. We'll wait for him here, get the drop on him, and kill him." Naruto rolled his eyes as Ace explained their plan once again.

"What's so special about Whitebeard? I mean sure he's a Yonko but there are three more of those sailing the seas. Hell, we just had a meeting with one and you didn't want to kill him." Ace shook his head at his first mate.

"It's not about status or rank. He's simply the strongest and I want to kill him."

The captain's explanation was simple enough and Naruto found himself accepting it. He honestly thought there was some deep seeded issue between the Yonko and his captain but it appeared that Ace just wanted to fight the strongest man in the world. In his opinion, Naruto thought that Ace's reasoning was sound, if a little bit hotheaded. But hey, no one ever said Naruto Uzumaki was a levelheaded person himself.

"Alright well you can count on me." The blonde encouraged with a thumbs up sign. Ace grinned at his friend, he was glad to have found someone as loyal as Naruto. As they continued their trek on the island they were halted by the form of a very large man that instantly put Naruto in the mind of Kisame. His arms were crossed and he was glaring at the two pirates; an obvious sign that do not intend to allow them to pass. Taking in his appearance Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that he knew who this fishman was.

"Oi, big fella! We wanna meet this Whitebeard guy so step aside." Naruto called out to the large fishman.

"I will not let brats as dangerous as you two meet the old man." His voice carried a tone of finality that made Ace raise an eyebrow.

"You apart of the old man's crew or something?" It was obvious from Ace's shift in his stance that he was ready to fight.

"I am not a member of the Whitebeard Pirates but I am grateful to him. Which is why I shall face you!" The fishman shifted into a fighting stance that made Naruto certain of his identity.

"I thought this guy looked familiar, this is Jinbe, the Knight of the sea. He's one of the Shichibukai."

Naruto had taken it upon himself to learn about this strange world he was in and in that time he had learned about a style of fighting called Fishman Karate. It was a style similar to his own Frog Katas that could only be utilized properly by fishmen. It was popularized by Jinbe himself and was known to be very lethal.

"I'll take care of this guy myself." Ace said with grin tossing his hat to Naruto who caught it with a dejected look.

"You always get to have the good fights." His words were unheard as the two fighters dashed at each other at high speeds.

* * *

**(Five Days Later)**

The two fighters breathed heavily as they stared down each other. Blood dripped down both of their chins as a sign of their intense battle. Neither one of them took their eyes off their opponent as they regained some of their energy lost during the five day long fight. Neither had used any special techniques as this was a show of pure brute strength. Jinbe was surprised that a human could match him in the strength department, while Ace wondered just how long he could keep fighting against the fishman.

Naruto looked on at the two combatants with a dull expression as he sat on the grass ground of the island. His eyebrow twitched madly as the two stood back up and prepared for another clash.

"Five days. You guys have been fighting for five fucking days while I sit here bored out of my mind!"

Before the blonde could rant anymore, an enormous ship crashed against the shore of the island and rolled unimpeded towards the inland where the three were located. Looking upon the figurehead of the massive vessel Naruto managed a grin. Standing at the forefront of the ship was the large, looming figure of their intended target, Edward Newgate AKA Whitebeard.

"Which one of you said that he'd take my head?" The Yonko's voice boomed out over the island and Naruto looked over at Ace. His captain was struggling to stand up straight and Naruto knew that he was in no condition to face Whitebeard.

"Finally some action." The blonde Spade Pirate said with a grin as he pulled out his Chakra Blades and slipped them on his knuckles. He had received the trench knives as a gift from Shikamaru as the Naruto laid bleeding towards the end of the Fourth Shinobi War. Since then he dedicated himself to becoming proficient in using them; a way of remembrance to the former owners who gave their lives to keep him safe.

Whitebeard looked down to see the young blonde walking towards his ship.

'The little punk thinks he can take me on alone?' Looking back at his crew he saw them all ready to fight at a moments notice, not that he would need them.

"I can do this alone." As expected, there were no arguments from his crew.

Whitebeard pulled out his bisento and leapt from the front of the ship, landing on the island with a resounding boom. He was forced to defend himself as Naruto was on him the instant he landed.

"Why are you young people always in such a hurry?" Whitebeard asked casually as he held back Naruto's advancement with great ease.

Naruto strained to press the Yonko's defensive stance. After a brief fight for dominance it became obvious that Whitebeard held the upper hand. Naruto smirked as he channeled wind chakra into the blades and made a swipe at the Yonko. Whitebeard, unprepared for such an attack, leapt back to avoid any real damage. But he couldn't avoid the attack in its entirety as a small cut appeared on his cheek. He reached up to wipe off a trail of blood on his face with amusement.

"It's been a while since I've seen my own blood." He commented offhand. Behind him his crew was about to jump down and take care of the blonde when Whitebeard held his hand up.

"Let's have a look at what your blood looks like." With that said he advanced towards Naruto with great speeds.

From his position on the ground, Ace could only watch as Naruto was decimated by the Yonko. He had seen Naruto cut the old man's cheek and was sure that his crewmate could deal the final blow if given enough time. But now, with the way Whitebeard was fighting, he wasn't sure if Naruto could make it another thirty seconds. He watched as Whitebeard delivered a particularly vicious slash at Naruto's abdomen causing the blonde to double over in pain.

'He's too strong. If this keeps up Naruto will be dead!'

"He's one tough bastard, I'll give him that." Naruto said spitting out a glob of blood.

The old man wasn't giving him any openings and he definitely didn't give him enough time to enter into either of his more powerful modes. So far he had managed to stay alive with his speed but the blonde knew that if the fight dragged on any longer he would die. Still, that didn't mean anything to him. Ace wanted this guy dead and he would do anything for his brother. As he stood to try and engage the Yonko once more a wall of fire appeared between him and his target.

"Oi, Ace! What the hell are you doing?" Ace didn't look back as he stared down the Yonko.

"Naruto, make a run for it!" Naruto was shocked by that. During the time that he had known the pirate, Ace had never ran away from a fight. For him to suggest retreat after spending all this time searching for Whitebeard seemed crazy. The Yonko seemed to share the blonde's thoughts.

"Are you bowing out, after all that talk? I haven't even begun to get warmed up!" Whitebeard slammed his bisento into the ground and crated a shock wave that shook the island. Ace addressed him as he struggled to stand.

"Let my friend go and I'll stay and fight you!"

Whitebeard studied the young man in front of him. He was willing to give up his life in a battle he knew he could not win just to allow his friend to escape. Although judging from the blonde's furious face from behind the wall of fire, he wouldn't be abandoning Ace any time soon.

"What a cheeky little brat you are." Whitebeard said with a smirk as he brought his blade down on the pirate in one swift motion. The strike was too fast for Ace to dodge and he found himself on the receiving end of a slash across the chest. He fell to the ground clutching his wound, wondering how a blade could harm him. He lost his concentration on maintaining the wall of fire and it allowed Naruto to burst forward in a hurry.

"As if I'd let you do this alone!" The blond screamed in a malevolent voice as he once again crashed blades with Whitebeard. Whitebeard observed the blonde in fascination as they exchanged swipes. Naruto was glowing with a strange red energy that he was sure was toxic. He was proven right when the blonde sent a slash of the energy through his blades and Whitebeard was forced to block. The red energy burn his flesh upon impact and Whitebeard knew that this fight had to end soon.

His crew, who were about to jump down and help their captain defeat the blonde, settled when they saw Whitebeard unleash his Devil's Fruit ability. The entire island shook with great force and the fight was over in an instant.

Whitebeard stood over the fallen forms of the two young pirates. Ace was in much better shape than Naruto, who was barely conscious from the Yonko's attack. Studying the two pirate's defiant spirits made Whitebeard reconsider killing them.

"It'd be a shame to let you both die here. If you still want to wreak havoc on the seas, bear my name on your backs and go as wild as you like!"

He extended his hand towards Ace, since Naruto was well out of it, and spoke.

"Become my sons." Ace looked shocked for a brief moment before anger took hold of him.

"Don't fuck with me!"

Whitebeard saw Ace gearing up for another attack and quickly knocked him out with the flat side of his bisento. Looking over a Naruto the Yonko saw that he had passed out some time ago from the wounds of their battle.

'Maybe I went a little too far with him.' He wondered idly before calling out to his crew,

"Get them on the ship."

* * *

Ace roused from the bliss of unconsciousness and was greeted to the familiar sight of brown wooden walls and the sounds of oak creaking against the ripples of water. He felt a soft surface beneath him and figured it was a mattress. Coming to the conclusion that he was on a ship, he tried to remember what had happened and why his chest hurt so much. Soon enough memories of his fight with Whitebeard flooded his mind and he shot up with a start. Looking around he saw a man sitting on a crate next to his bed.

He was a tall man with a brown pompadour hairstyle, which went to a point at the back of his head, and a black goatee around his chin. He had a stitched scar running down his face, around his left eye. He was dressed in a posh uniform, with calf-long pants and a black belt around his waist, and brown shoes. He smiled a welcoming smile at Ace when he saw he was awake.

"Hey, my name is Thatch. I'm Commander of the 4th Division of the Whitebeard Pirates. If we're going to be crewmates, let's try and get along okay?" Ace scowled at the man's outstretched hand and slapped it away.

"Shut up! Where is Naruto?" Thatch's smile slipped before it return in full force.

"Hahaha, you sure were slow to wake up. Let me tell you what happened after you passed out."The man reclined with his hands behind his head as he observed the black haired pirate,

"That blonde haired partner of yours went berserk and tried to kill the old man. He started using some strange red power so Pops had to put him down, hard. He's still alive though, in fact he's on the ship as well."

Ace stared at the blonde Whitebeard Pirate for a long while trying to gauge whether or not he was telling the truth. When he couldn't detect any deceit from him, Ace leaned deeper into his bed.

"You're okay with me being on your ship without handcuffs or anyone guarding me?" The Mera Mera user asked with a raised eyebrow to which Thatch shrugged.

"You're not a prisoner. You can move freely about the ship as soon as you feel like it."

Before any more could be said on the matter the cabin door opened to reveal a heavily bandaged Naruto. Ace sat up at the sight of his friend and Thatch waved a greeting.

"Hello there, Naruto-san. I'm surprised you're up and moving so soon, you took quite the beating." Naruto walked deeper into the room, his eyes cautiously watching the Whitebeard crew member. Thatch chuckled at his caution and got up making his way towards the door.

"I'll leave you two alone to talk." As the door closed Ace was quick to question Naruto on the situation.

"What the hell is going on here?" Naruto shrugged just as clueless as his captain.

"I don't know. I was surprised that they didn't kill us, I'm even more surprised that we aren't being held prisoner. What's the plan captain?"

Ace thought for a long while. They may not have been handcuffed or restrained but that didn't mean they weren't prisoners all the same. Seeing that Whitebeard was so within reach, Ace leveled the blonde with a serious stare.

"The plan stays the same. We're going to kill Whitebeard."

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will wrap up the Joining Whitebeard arc and shift into the pre-timeskip stage. Let me say that the REAL plotline doesn't start until after the Marineford Arc. Most of the main plot will take place in the New World after the timeskip. I just need to get this other stuff out of the way first before things can really take off.**

**On another note, it really disappoints me that I got so many Hits, Favs, and Alerts but so little reviews. I know this is a common problem among authors on this site but, come on guys. Don't you realize that when you review it helps make the story better? I can't know how I'm doing unless you guys tell me. I'll write the story regardless but I now see why so many great stories get abandoned on this site. There's no input unless it's for pairings or a "bashing" request. Some people (me for example) write on this site to improve in areas they feel they are lacking in. ANY feedback will be appreciated. Sorry for the rant/begging session, I promise not to write anymore extremely long A/N's.**


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